Summer Basketball Thoughts

I know that just a few people will be reading this since I took the last three or four months off from writing but for those that do see this, I would love to hear you chime in on some of the recent basketball events that have unfolded since the last time I wrote:

1. How could you begin with anything besides his Kingliness. LeBron James, a seemingly boundless talent, who at 6’8″ has the basketball world in the palm of his hand, decided to jump ship out of Cleveland and take less money to join the Miami Heat and have a better shot and winning a title right away.

At first glance, I thought about the fans of Cleveland and how they must have felt, losing their own hometown hero who was born and raised down the road in Akron. Those fans must be seething right now but this move goes way beyond Cleveland. This move clearly shows that fan loyalty and hometown love is second fiddle to the glitz and glam of the title and the lure of South Beach.

I then thought about my childhood following of the NBA, the golden era if you will, with Larry, Magic and Michael. Surely none of them would have left their franchises for less money to join each other to win a title. Jordan recently went on record as saying, “When I was a player, if you wanted to be the best, you had to beat the best, not join the best.”

In fact, having Larry, MJ and Magic on the same team was fun when it was the Dream Team and they were representing the USA in the ’92 olympics but on the same team in the NBA? That would be preposterous. Imagine Bird in Laker Gold or Magic in Celtic Green? It is kind of sickening to even think about.

LeBron, who aired his decision at to a national television audience at 9PM on July 8th, 2011 clearly showed that he was from another planet and feels he is on another stratosphere than the rest of the basketball world. The problem is, that he hasn’t won anything yet. Sure, he has knocked on the door, but he hasn’t come that close and surely MJ, Magic or Larry wouldn’t have presumed to do something like this BEFORE they won a title?

So, fans of the House of Hoops, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I know most of you won’t be tuning in over the summer, but if you see this let me know how you feel and what direction you feel we are headed in?

The labor agreement ends at the end of this season. Players and Owners will want to play the games but not without some serious hits to the wallet. Where is the game headed? Let me know.

2. Bobby Gonzalez, the head coach formerly of Manhattan and then Seton Hall, was apparently caught shoplifting a $1,400 satchel??? Who is he trying to be Indiana Jones or Alan from “The hangover”?

3. Who do you think will win the 2011 NBA title? If you were a betting man, which of the following four choices would you take:

* Kobe, Ron Ron, Derek, Lamar and Pau Gasol in LA.

* LBJ, Dwayne, Chris, Udonis and company in Miami

* Paul, Ray, Rajon and Kevin in Boston

* The rest of the field.

4. Is there anything to be said anymore for guys like Kevin Durant or Dirk Nowitzki staying put with their franchises? Speaking of Durant, could he be the next best player in the league after say Kobe and LeBron?

5. Do you think Rudy Gay deserves MAX money in the NBA? What have we come to where a guy like Rudy Gay gets $120 Million to play basketball. What has he done? Seriously.

Ok fans, chew on those and chime in. It has been an eventful summer and I would like to hear some thoughts if anyone sees this. Otherwise, of course I expect to have everyone back for hoop season.

Eric Medved

3 Responses

2010 Magic ripped LeBron for playing with other stars. 1979 Magic only came out of college “to play with Kareem”, and said he would have gone back to college had he been drafted by the less-talented Bulls.

If LeBron went to NY, people would rip him for not caring enough about winning. He went to Miami, and people ripped him for going to a team that was too good. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect him to pick a team that has falls in a precise talent window (i.e. Chicago) of being good-but-not-great because that fits our interpretation of the “superstar” narrative.

Next year should be awesome – the Heat will be arguably the most interesting team ever, or certainly of the past couple decades. I do appreciate the concerns of people who are worried about a handful of “superteams” possibly emerging and making the rest of the league uncompetitive, although how many teams had any realistic chance of winning the title in 2010…nine? CLE, BOS, ORL, LAL, DEN, UTA, PHO, POR, SAS?

Great stuff Kevin. The difference between 2010 is that 9-10 teams had a chance and this year can you argue anyone else besides the big three? I know matchups aren’t everything but top to bottom I do not see any other teams being able to sustain themselves in a long series against those teams. I know some people will say Phoenix, Orlando, Chicago, Denver or maybe Dallas but those teams are all a cut below the big three superteams. Memphis may be just a couple pieces away too.

Orlando absolutely has a shot – the Magic returns everybody from a 59-win team that reached the Finals two years ago. If Portland has everybody healthy – a long shot, I know – they can knock off the Lakers in the rest. And I’m still not sure I’m comfortable counting the Spurs out of it…they’re not likely to have the Big Three all healthy this year, but if they do they could win it. The Thunder will be a championship contender within two years at this rate, but not yet. So that’s six teams, two of which are long shots, which isn’t very many.

I’m not entirely sure this is a bad thing for basketball, though. It’s bad for fans of some specific teams like New Orleans – good-but-not-great teams that don’t really have a chance to compete for a title – but the Blazers and Thunder (and, to a lesser extent, Magic) are showing that if you’re smart, you don’t need three superstars to be successful. And if we have big rivalries between great teams, culminating in Finals series with 5-6 superstars, are you really going to complain?

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